Taking a Dare - A Hellion MC Novel (6 page)

Dare just happened to shift his gaze to the doors of
the kitchen and saw a bevy of beauties start pouring out, each
carrying one of the club's large industrial size metal pans. As the
Honeys walked to the bar, it was to catcalls, whistles and shouts
of appreciation from the brothers in the club. Sounds that Dare
knew wasn't only for the food but for the view as well.

Ryley was the fourth one in the line.

And she hadn't changed a motherfuckin' bit 'cept to
get even more fuckin' beautiful.

Chapter Six

I'd tried to get out of the line up to carry the food
in especially after I'd heard Dare's laugh, a sound I hadn't heard
in a long freaking time. Too long. But was a noise that was still
stuck in a place deep, deep inside me and had my heart booming and
the shakes start at the sound.

The Honeys though were having none of my hiding in
the kitchen shit.

Dallas was the one that shoved the huge pan of mashed
potatoes into my hands and since she was Trey's old lady there was
no way in the world I could refuse. As Trey's chosen, she held the
roost in this part of the hive. Although she didn't lord it over
the rest of us like Wolf's woman in Sheridan had. Lucky for
everybody, that bitch was long gone having run off with an Ohioan
Outlaw if the rumors were true.

Dallas acted just like the rest of us even though she
dressed down a bit more than some of the Honeys. In fact, if you
didn't know she belonged to Trey, you wouldn't even have known she
was the queen bee. And she seemed to cater to Dee a lot which
didn't make sense to me.

Dee had been the last president's, Big Duke's wife.
But when he was gone, she should've been shown the door. At least
she would've been in Spokane. My dad didn't allow that kind of shit
to go down, stating the older, newly-single Honeys created more
havoc than anyone else in the club, including recruits. They were
allowed to remain part of the women's activities but were never
welcomed into the clubhouse, not even in the kitchen unless another
brother decided to take them on.

It had gotten so hot in the cooking space while we
worked, I'd had to remove my long-sleeve t-shirt and just zipped my
leather vest with the side laces pulled tight to wear over my bra.
It left a little skin showing between my low riding leather pants
and the hem of my vest but I figured I'd be in the kitchen the
whole time and the only ones who'd complain would be my dad or my
brother.

They had a thing about me showing skin at a club.

But when Dallas shoved the heavy pan at me, I had no
choice but to take it and carry it out to the bar no matter what I
was or was not wearing. After setting it down in the space Dee
pointed out, I used my belt-loops to pull up my leathers and
glanced around the big clubhouse only to see wall to wall men.

The crowd parted just as I was taking the scenic
route through Hellion man-country and I got my first eyeful of
Dare. Sitting at a table with Trey and the other Hellion-Missoula
men, he looked so goddamn good, my knees got weak and I grabbed
onto the edge of the bar in order to stay upright.

God, how could he look almost exactly the same but so
different all at the same time?

Balancing his chair on the back two legs, his eyes
met mine and even from where I stood, I could see the heat in them.
That's what I remembered most from when we'd first met. How his
deep brown eyes could take on a sexy heat that was visible, that
scored through a girl if she wasn't careful.

I had been too young to know about being careful.

And too immature to even try.

I let my eyes travel over him, noting the changes the
years had made. He'd always been tall, more than a half a foot
longer than my own 5'6" but with lean definition. Dare had
obviously hit the weights because now he was much, much bigger with
muscles almost on top of other muscles easily seen rippling under
his t-shirt. I noted the addition of ink on one of his arms that
started at his wrist, moved upward and had me wondering where
exactly it ended.

As my gaze traveled, I saw evidence of his heavy
beard that was then just scruff as if he hadn't shaved that
morning. But the full mustache that dripped down the sides of his
mouth to his chin added character to his chiseled handsomeness and
was probably the envy of more than one brother.

My heart skipped a beat and my breath seized as he
turned his eyes forward and caught mine with laser-like intensity.
It was as if our shared stare caused the rest of the world to fall
away and there were no other people, no noise, no music to intrude
on our moment. Nothing but the two of us linked together by just
our eyes. And that shared look, a stare that had my body reacting
as if I'd been electrified was only broken when I saw him lift his
glass as if to salute me before it covered his grin.

A grin I remembered but didn't have near enough
memories of.

A grin that was like water on my parched heart.

"You might wanna save the eye-fuck with Dare until
your dad's not around," Lock murmured as she leaned against my
shoulder. I glanced over the crowd and found my father was standing
away from the bar but had his head turned towards the back of the
room. He was frowning as he turned back to me. Shit! Almost
twenty-six and my pops still was trying to run interference in my
damn life. Even my brother got in on the act, glaring at the back
of the room. I know I'd given them justification for their
protectiveness but they needed to once and for all let that shit
go
.

My gaze returned to Dare again only by then he was
talking with the other men at the table, his face turned to the
brothers.

You'd think that nine years, seven months, three
weeks and almost one day would've dulled my memory of my time with
him so long ago, but from my body's reaction to seeing him again,
that hadn't happened.

I still wanted Dare.

Had wanted him badly from the time I was fifteen.

But that want had deepened over time and was now
layered with a woman's deep desire.

*.*.*.*.*

Dare couldn't remember another time in his goddamn
life when he'd been so motherfuckin' miserable.

To have her so close was a goddamn dream.

To not be able to touch her was motherfuckin'
torture.

Even his cock was complaining after having gone to
full when Hardwood had said she was in the clubhouse. And the beast
had started positively throbbing when she'd come into view.

Fuck, but she was gorgeous. More dazzling than he
remembered. She'd been built back in the day but the deep, full
curves she carried as an adult almost screamed for a man's hands to
reach, to touch. But no one would, he knew. Not as the bona-fide
daughter of the Spokane Hellions. Even if she was unclaimed, which
he suspected she probably wasn't, no brother in his right mind
would ever treat or touch her in an inappropriate way. While most
single Honeys were fair game when it came to sex with the members,
daughters were different. Especially the female kin of whoever held
the gavel.

Vestal virgins is what Bishop had named them.

Dare just called them 'no-goes'.

And at that moment, he was calling himself all sorts
of a shithead fool for even lusting after her. Been there, done
that and had the fuckin' scar tissue on his heart to prove it.

Ryley.

She was talking and laughing with the different
brothers as they sat at the tables to eat, doing the kind of thing
that was expected of a Honey of a Hellion club, albeit more like
one of the married ones. She wasn't expected to kiss the men hello,
to press herself against them. No, her meet and greet was sweeter
and without most of the physical doings the other Honeys
distributed so freely.

But Dare couldn't take his eyes off her anymore than
he could Jim in the café earlier.

Her skin, not that she showed much of it just a small
taut patch exposed between her pants and her vest, was a soft gold.
Almost like she'd gotten tanned in some exotic locale and it was
just then starting to fade.

The long brown hair he'd ran his hands through years
before looked just as thick and luxurious as he remembered.
Although now she wore it with bangs that were swept to the
side.

And her eyes. Christ, those goddamn eyes! Back in the
day, she hadn't worn any makeup. Hell, hadn't needed it. But now,
with the brown lines that rimmed them, the fuckin' aqua stood out.
Shined forth. And drove a motherfuckin' knife into his heart while
making his cock strain against his zipper every time her eyes met
hit his.

Which was often.

She moved to another table and he saw a Spokane
brother, March he thought the man's name was, reach up and snag her
waist, pulling her closer. And as Dare watched, the fucker's hand
slid over her ass cheek, causing her to jerk and straighten
quickly, before it moved to settle on the side of her hip. She
stopped speaking and dropped her head as she looked first at the
hand and then at the tall but lean man that had his head tilted up
towards her.

A couple heartbeats later, her own hand reared back
and imprinted itself on the guy's face. Dare could hear the crack
of her palm as it connected even from so far away.

But all the dude did was laugh at her reaction and
was soon joined by Gus and Leif who were sharing the table. Her men
hadn't gotten a glimpse the ass play that March had done. But even
without the slap, Dare knew the man's move had not been welcomed
just by the disgusted look she'd worn.

Ryley, though, said a few more words through clenched
teeth and with a flushed face she twirled half-way and started
talking to the next group. As she stepped away, Dare relaxed back
into his seat. And as he did, he realized he'd been prepared to
wade right the fuck in and stop the mauling she so obviously didn't
want.

Christ!

That March had made such a play within spitting
distance of her family with their club nearby and in view of some
of the Spokane Honeys told Dare a couple of things. One, that no
man would get so touchy-feely without previously receiving a green
light to do so. Which meant Ryley and March had hit it on at least
on a couple of occasions.

And two, that her dad and her brother approved of her
hook up with the lean, blonde brother. But the part that had Dare
puzzled was that it didn't seem to matter to them if she didn't
like and publicly objected to the skinny twerp's fuckin' display of
affection.

All in all though, it was, Dare decided, good
news.

Very good news that indicated she wasn't permanently
hooked up with the man or anyone for that matter. Although it had
pissed him right the fuck off to see her getting grabbed in such a
personal way.

Right or wrong, whether it made sense or not, Ryley
was, at least in his mind, goddamn
his
! Not motherfuckin'
beanpole March, for Christ's sake no matter what Gus or Leif
thought. Dare didn't give a fuck about her dad and brother's
approval.

Never had and never would.

Which meant when he made his move it wouldn't be on
the sly or stealthily in any way, shape or form. When he and his
girl connected again, it would be for fuckin'
them
and no
one had the right to offer an opinion or any goddamn
interference.

Having solidified his thinking and chosen his goal,
Dare threw the rest of his Avion Silver tequila down his throat and
slammed the glass onto the tabletop so hard he was sure the crystal
would break. Waving two fingers in the air, he saw Lock coming
quickly to the table with his own personal bottle.

But before she made it there, Trey circumvented her
trajectory and brought the bottle to Dare himself.

"You tying one on, Dare?" his pres asked dropping
into one of the open chairs. Dare couldn't resist a glance at Lock
who was making her way back to behind the bar. They'd done the deed
more than a few times but she'd never been anything to him other
than a friend willing to satisfy a need.

"Nope," Dare replied firmly. Lock was well aware of
his feelings for Ryley and had commiserated with him especially in
the beginning when he'd been crushing so hard on the beautiful but
younger girl. So Lock must've been aware of what he was going
through just having the object of his dreams nearby.

From the sympathetic glance she directed his way
before resuming her duties, he knew she understood.

"If you keep drinking like you are, you might
consider grabbing a room key, brother," Trey advised. "They seem to
be going fast and I'd hate to hear you'd had to sleep off your
drunk in your truck."

"I'll take that under advisement," Dare muttered,
turning his eyes back to Ryley who was by then only a couple of
tables away from where he was drowning his sorrows. He didn't think
he'd be able to woo Ryley into his bed on her first night in town
so he thought about extending an offer to Lock. But Dare saw the
Honey's eyes drift to Blaze who'd been her choice during the run
where he'd met Ryley. Only Blaze, a tall muscled Spokane brother,
had been twenty to Lock's sixteen so they'd
really
had to
hide what they'd been doing. One thing the Hellions absolutely
didn't allow was sex with underage girls. That was a huge no-no and
could see a man having his cut pulled.

But Blaze and Lock didn't have to conceal their
craving anymore and the other brother's steady heated look on the
blonde Lock more than told of their shared desire.

Trey turned in his chair to determine who or what had
captured Dare's attention. "You getting possessive, bro? "

"Fuck, no. Glad one of us is going to have fun." And
Dare meant it. Just because he and Lock weren't real lovers in the
truest sense, he still counted her as a long-time friend. One who
came with certain benefits when the need arose and there was no one
else around.